Behind the Scenes: Keegan Allen on Pretty Little Liars

Interview by Rachel Thomas

Do you miss spending time with ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars? Not to worry – the addictive series returns on January 8, 2013 at 8pm and to give you a little sneak peek at what you can expect, we chatted with Keegan Allen (‘Toby’) about his character and the upcoming episodes. But be warned, if you haven’t caught up on the series, this short Q&A does contain a spoiler.

So, now we know Toby isn’t the character he was portrayed to be all this time…

Keegan: “Now that the information has come out that Toby is also A, you will get a fun glimpse into the past. His character has been through so many ups and downs. People who have been watching since season one know that he has severe family issues and school torment and torture. He then came into himself and began the friendship with Emily and then found this beautiful relationship with Spencer…only to find out that he’s really not that person. He’s actually this phantasmic, dangerous person who is actually an enemy of these girls.”

What can we expect when the show comes back in January?

Keegan: “Life in Rosewood is really going to change. One of the girls is going to feel it more than the others. When the show returns, Mona is going to be cleared from Radley Sanitarium and she returns to high school. Nobody knows if she’s really cured or is completely insane and playing everybody. Within these next 11 episodes, A pushes all these girls to their breaking point… Spencer more so than the others. Being with Troian (Spencer) when she was shooting these episodes was amazing. I was stunned at where Troian takes this character. There’s a breaking point for Spencer; Emily is messed with a lot; Hanna has a lot of family issues of her own; Ezra also has some family issues that complicate things with Aria. Everything that has been building over the last couple of seasons comes crashing down in an extraordinary way.”

Will we finally learn how A always knows everything the girls do behind closed doors?

Keegan: “It’s hard to answer without giving too much away. We’ll see little ways where he was able to find out things. For example, in season two, episode 11, Spencer says meet me at the carnival and he, as A, texts her from a blocked number and later Toby tells her he’s sorry, he lost his phone. We’re dealing with more than one person in this team. A lot is really explained in season three and the finale is where it all comes to a head.”

Journalist covering the entertainment industry for 18+ years, including 13 years as the first writer for About.com's Hollywood Movies site. Member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and President of the San Diego Film Critics Society.